


it's gone

by Lokorfi



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Goodbye., The idea was spinning in my head., There is nothing left to say.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 08:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5367860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokorfi/pseuds/Lokorfi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perhaps you will remember, in the end, that you did the right thing. Even if everyone else felt differently, they were not you. They could not find a third choice between the lines of right and wrong. </p><p>That's okay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's gone

.M.

                You lied.

                You lied when you told her you would save Arcadia Bay. You lied when you sobbed about making the hardest choice, because you couldn’t see it going any different. You lied about sacrificing Chloe, about everything else.

                But you didn’t lie when you said that there must have been another way.

                The bright light faded into the dark recluse of the bathroom corner. The floor and the mirrors smelled faintly of bleach and dead butterflies, of dead Chloe’s and dead, dead, dead. It was there but it wasn’t; a result of the time travel one supposes. It didn’t go away until you finally moved one of you stiff muscles, to drop the photo of the cursed blue butterfly down onto the dark, smudged tiles. The subject of the picture mentioned flapped its wings slightly and flew onto the sink’s faucet to the very left, facing the door as if it was waiting.

                It was waiting for the end.

                You wouldn’t let it have the satisfaction.

                Finally, after an excruciating length of time, the door creaked, the faithful Blackwell drabble drifting in for a mere second, before the door shut again. For some reason, it gave you a feeling of peace, of finality. This is your home.

                It was quiet, for a while.

                Then Nathan started pacing, muttering to himself.

                “It’s cool Nathan. You’re okay bro, just count to three…...” The countdown had begun.

                As if sensing that everything was coming to a conclusion that fate did not intend, your head began to throb, slowly unstitching the strings holding your skull together, not because of your powers, but because the world had eventually discovered what you were about to do, and was using everything to prevent it. The sound outside was muted, muffled monologue.

                You forced yourself to RELENT.

                This was the only thing you could do.

                You could hear, barely. The door creaked open again, the tiny sound almost undistinguishable from the waves of blood roaring in your ears, dripping endlessly from your pale nose, your paper heart threatening already to crumble.

                “So what do you want?”

                A few stall doors are pushed open while Chloe said,” I hope you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say.”

                Steps that paused and turned back to where Nathan was standing. “Now let’s talk bidness.” Her voice facing away, it was faded in and out, bitter with the taste of dying Polaroids.

                “I’ve got nothing for you- “

                “Wrong! You’ve got hella cash!”

                Their voices overlap like a dancing argument, as if two burning flames were fighting to engulf each other in its own fire. You could feel the memory cracking- the pressure of all of time still unraveling, your right arm has become heavy and numb. You can’t rewind now. There was only one way out of this now.

                “I know you been pumpin’ drugs n’ shit to kids around here. I bet your respectable family would help me out if I went to them. Man, I can see the headlines now!“

                “Leave them out of this, BITCH!”

                The sound of a hard shove. She’s done it now. “I can tell everybody Nathan Prescott is a punk ass who begs like a little girl and talks to himself-“

Click. Sudden silence.

                Nathan held a gun, his trembling, twitching fingers practically snaked over the trigger like it was his addiction. His eyes practically bulged out like spotlights, dilating as if everything were flying in and out of his focus.

                His hyperventilating, rasping voice broke out like a threat, a warning to back off. “You don’t know who the fuck I am, or who you’re messing around with!”

                The tone in Chloe’s voice changed. There’s fear now, more noticeable than before, her arrogance long fled. She wasn’t ready to die.

                “H-hey, where’d you get that?”

                Almost as if it were from your memories, raw and unbidden, a whisper burned into your ears. “ _Number one rule, Max. Always..._ ”

                Always. You were being

                “ _Take._ ”

                You leapt forward, grabbing a hold of the barrel of the gun, trying to wrestle it away from Chloe’s direction, Nathan was startled, his finger slipped and

                “ _The shot.”_

                Ear deafening explosion, and

**EVERY ONE OF YOUR SENSES BECAME LOST IN THAT TORNADO OF PAIN, AS IF YOUR BODY WERE SCREAMING AND CURSING AT YOUR ACCURSED SELFISHNESS, NO, SELFLESSNESS, AND THE WORLD, THE BUTTERFLY, THEY WERE ALL TORN TO SHREDS AND THE MEMORIES BURST OUT OF YOU LIKE A KNIFE TO YOUR SKULL, EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED, DIDN’T HAPPEN, WOULD’VE HAPPENED. AND THEN**

                there was silence, and one thought remained

                whole and pure,

                _Chloe._

_For you…  
_

_Anything, if it meant you would live._

.C.

                Nathan, hysterical.

                You, numb.

                There was something strange about the girl’s face. Something familiar about how her doe eyes closed and stopped fluttering. How the skin grew pale, and how she had fallen similar to a pirate as she succumbed to the sea.

                A voice, raw and unbidden, burned into your ears.

                _“She’s never leaving me!”_

                It was yours.

                Nathan was shaking her, as if she had just been lulled into a small nap. The blood was an illusion, surely this was all an act set up by Nathan to scare you. You sure had been fooled–

                Because the girl on the floor was your best friend for your entire life.

                It felt like you had just trespassed into a crime scene that you didn’t know was yours.

                You pull Nathan back from her body, saying, repeating things that were muffled to you, like the loud gunshot had drowned out every sense of happiness from your veins like it had drowned out the blood from her. She was still there, he was still in a frenzy, and what were you?

                You couldn’t think.

                Step– David enters, pins Nathan down against the tiles. You crawl over to her, you hold her broken body in your blood soaked hands, you said you were sorry, you said it over and over again. Holding her fading hand like the only warmth in your heart was dying. You wanted to bring her back to life, you wanted to embrace her, you wanted to–

. . .

                _“Hey Max,” a sudden blurt came from Chloe’s mouth._

_The early sun still chirping over the clouds, but high enough to be considered eight or nine._

_“Hm?” Max hummed while turning William’s camera around, studying the lens so closely as if it were holding a fish on the other side of that glass eye._

_“There’s uh, well, there’s something I wanted to ask from you.”_

_Max grinned and turned her eyes towards Chloe’s, almost causing them to widen as a blush spread across her cheeks so suddenly. “Wow, Chloe, you sound so nervous! That’s a first for our usually fearless pirate. Come on, spit it out!”_

_“It’s just uh... Promise me.”_

_"Promise you… what?” Max laid her head against the hardwood floor, staring up at the ceiling._

_“Well… just… “_

_“Chloeee, you’re stalling! Don’t hold out on your best friend and sidekick- “_

_“Don’t leave me alone.”_

_Max catches a glimpse of Chloe’s face, seeing that the smile that she’s forced herself into is bitter, tight lipped, and searching, desperate for the right answer. Their eyes meet, and they hold that gaze._

_Max opens her mouth,” – “_

_A loud shout from downstairs. It was William, calling them to start cooking breakfast._

_“Why don’t we continue this after breakfast?” Chloe hastily changes the topic, as she drags a yelping Max to the door. “Chl- Chloe, wait!”_

_They leave the door open to slowly swing on its hinges, as if to sense that soon it would be the end of a peaceful time._

.?.

                You look up from the floor that you are sitting close to, and you meet an unexpected color. Not blue, but brown hair.

                The girl looks confused as well, and it only continues to grow as she comes to you as well. “You are,” she speaks uncertainly, as if your image were a fragile topic,” you’re &&&&?”

                You nod, giving a tiny smile.

                “So you were always here?”

                “Of course. Can’t leave her by herself, can I?”

                "Good job, by the way. On saving the whole.. town from the tornado. That was hella noble of you."

                She is still a bit unsure, but her eyes lighten their cloudiness as if recognizing pieces of what had happened just earlier. "Yes.. I'm here because.. oh."

                She looks around, at nothing but also everything, at the ocean and the sky that were never here, before finally settling on the landscape of the junkyard in its lone rustic tranquility.

                “Nice um... nice place you have here.”

                “It’s also yours too, you know.” You sit back against the worn couch and throw a couple of darts at the board on the other wall.

                She bites her lip. “Right.”

                “So tell me.”

                She starts, ”What?”

                “Sit down, genius. I want to hear all about your story.”

                She comes to sit adjacent to you, and she closes her eyes, the sound of the distant train comforting her. At least, that’s what you hope it does to her as well. You didn’t choose this spot for no particular reason.

                But you digress. “Anyways, while we wait, what’s your name?”

                She opens her eyes. “Max. Max Caulfield. And waiting for what?”

                You smirk. “Use your brain, hippie. Chloe. It'll be a looong while before she finds herself here. So, while we sit in this lovely abode, drinking endless cups of coffee and eating abundant amounts of Joyce's pancakes, I'd like to hear from you.”

                You gather your bracelet and put it in your hands, moving it slowly between your two palms, “I've been wanting to talk to you for a long time now.”

                Your hazel eyes capture her attention as you search her tired, lost soul."Tell me everything."

 

 

 

 

 

               

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think? It is quite literally the first serious fanfiction that I've ever attempted to write. Any critique would be very helpful in improvement of any future writing I might hope to do.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
